An Adidas flagship store at Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street in Shanghai, China.
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Adidas on Wednesday reported an uptick in fourth-quarter sales that exceeded expectations, as the retailer shakes off weakness in North America and China.
The German sportswear giant recorded a 19% increase revenues at neutral currency rates to 5.97 billion euros ($6.34 billion) in the three-month period, ahead of the 5.72 billion euros forecast by LSEG analysts.
Operating profit came in at 57 million euros in the fourth quarter compared to a loss of 377 million euros in the same period of last year.
Full year sales rose 12% at currency neutral rates to 23.7 billion euros, versus an anticipated 23.5 billion euros. Operating profit totaled 1.34 billion euros in 2024, compared with the 1.27 billion euros forecast.
The figures came in ahead of with the company’s own guidance, raised in October, for full-year revenue growth of around 10% at currency-neutral rates and operating profit of around 1.2 billion euros.
CEO Bjorn Gulden described the Wednesday results as “much better than we had expected.”
“Although we are not yet where we want to be long term, it was a very successful year that confirmed the strength of the adidas brand, the potential of our company and what a fantastic job our teams are doing. We still have a lot to improve but I am very proud of what our people achieved in 2024,” he said in a statement.
Adidas is attempting to grow its market share in North America amid declining sales at Nike and a broader retailer shift away from an overdependence on a weaker China.
Adidas’ North America sales fell 1.6% at currency-neutral rates in 2024, having struggled to recover from the termination of its once-lucrative Yeezy sneaker line. The sportswear giant was forced to axe the Yeezy line after terminating its partnership with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, over a string of anti-Semitic remarks that the rapper made in 2022.
The company on Wednesday said that it had sold the remainder of its Yeezy inventory in the fourth quarter.
Gulden has been looking to distance Adidas from its loss-making Yeezy line and spark a wider turnaround of the brand since taking the helm in January 2023.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly.
